A lot of internet marketers build a website and wait for results. The most successful internet marketers don’t stop building. Finding online success can take time but even after you reach it, you cannot become complacent. Content is king and updating your blog content regularly will help you continually bring new traffic to your sites.
Search engines will visit your website or blog every time you add new content. If your site becomes static, eventually the search engines will stop coming. The aim of the search engines are to bring people new information and when you have an audience, lack of regular new information will stop them from coming as well.
If you don’t update your blog regularly, not only will you lose the attention of the search engines but your subscribers will probably opt-out as well. If you have RSS subscribers, the most recently updated blog will be in their reader list on the main page. If you can stay on that main page as often as possible, you’ll have a greater chance of getting heard.
If you have a static website, consider adding a blog to it to keep at least one section regularly updated and if you have a blog, try not to neglect it. Even a few blog posts a week will pay off and could help you develop a great income stream.
How Often Should You Update Your Blog
Not all internet marketers can update their blogs daily but if you can, this is a good idea. Write blog posts and articles in advance and schedule your posts so that your audience is trickle-fed a regular stream of updates and information from you.
Here are some tips to help you update your blog more often and get traffic to it:
• Write a few articles per week for article distribution and link to the blog with strong keywords.
• Use tools that allow you to schedule updates (such as SocialOomph) to tell people to visit your blog when it updates.
• Blog ahead. WordPress lets you schedule your blog posts for a future date.
• Post at around the same time each day. If you establish patterns, both your customers and search engines will anticipate this and react to it.
• Write a series. You might do a link roundup one day of the week, announce a special promotion on another, etc.
• Add a contributor. You may want to find someone with knowledge of your industry to add a weekly blog post to the blog. Blogs that have more than one author often do well.
• If you do a weekly newsletter, you can also use this as content for your site. After you’ve sent it out, post it on a section of your website. If you’ve optimised your newsletter for search engines, you’ll benefit even further.
• Link to yourself. If you have several blogs and can’t write a post every week for every one of them but the niche is related, link to one blog from another to create new content and merge audiences as well as provide backlinks to your own sites.
• Welcome and encourage guest posts for your blog. You may have some readers who’d like to do a guest post with a link back to their site. This gives you content, can provide interesting information to your readers, and helps you build a network of friends. Those friends will probably send their own audience to your blog which gives you new potential subscribers.
• Use syndicated content. Articles on article directories are often free to re-distribute if you leave the links in tact and credit the author. You can find great articles that relate to your audience and post them on your site. Do this carefully so you’re not sending your traffic to a competitor.
A blog is a powerful tool for internet and affiliate marketing but is only useful as long as people keep visiting it. Do you have any blogs that are collecting dust? Take on board some of the tips provided above and update your blog as often as possible for maximum results.
About Sean Rasmussen
Hi Sean
Thanks for some tips on updating blogs. This is a challenge for a lot of us bloggers, so having some kind of strategy and routine really helps. Love the great use of keywords and SEO in this blog post. A great example for all of us to learn from.
Hi Lina
It can take time to develop a strategy and blogging routine that works and suits yourself as an individual, we all work in different ways. Great to see you have benefited from this post and are constantly learning new information to increase your online success
Regards – Sean
I agree with Lina. I believe that many people know that frequent, quality content on a blog is very beneficial, however that is sometimes difficult for beginners.
I have been looking at the idea of finding a contributor or regular guest posting articles, however not really sure about how I go about purposing such a idea…
Writing and publishing frequent blog posts can definitely be difficult for beginners Cemil. It’s a bit like anything, practice does make perfect and the more you do it, the easier it will get. If you are wanting to guest post on other sites, it is a matter of finding quality sites that are very relevant to your niche and approaching the author via email or blog comment etc. As time goes by, and your site builds in reputation, you may also find other people approaching you to guest post on your site
Regards – Sean
I have been using a technique that I read over the last little while to help generate ideas. Basically its a brainstorming activity on any recently written post. You take an article that you have previously written and look at different ways in which you can extend that article, i.e. looking at the opposite point of view, picking up a question that may have been left on the post, etc. This may generate an additional 3 or more articles.
Sean, I believe that I may still be considered “green”, however writing a guest post for one of your blogs one day would be a privilege
Sounds like a great technique Cemil. Thanks for sharing it with other readers as it will surely give them some food for thought. As for guest posting, I cannot guarantee anything, but I am always open to suggestion. Feel free to email me when the time is right mate.
Regards – Sean
Thanks for the insights. I really like the series idea. What a great way to have people establish a pattern of going to your blog.
There are plenty of benefits to writing a series indeed Neil. Glad you enjoyed the article, happy blogging!
Regards – Sean
This post was very enlightening. I have two blogs with a lot of content which get sporadic search engine traffic at the best, but I am not able to post regularly and at the same time because I have a regular day job [late closing hours] and a family [2 active kids and a hubby] to look after.
I would have to prepare posts ahead and schedule publishing for future dates, this way I would ensure that I post regularly and at the same time.
I actually love writing- this is my passion.
Thanks for the tips.
Great to see you are following your passion Consolata. If you have a lot of content on your blogs and are not getting a lot of traffic, you may like to learn more about SEO and social media. By utilising both of these resources your blog will stand a better chance of being noticed. Scheduling your posts is also a great way to ensure your blog is being updated on a regular basis.
Regards – Sean
It can be a struggle balancing all our hats.
Great advice Sean to help us develop some good habits
Sean
What exactly is a trackback?
Gee
Trackbacks and pingbacks are similar, I believe. It’s a notification to let you know that someone has linked to your blog post.
Great. Does it tell you who?
Yes, there will be a URL included Gee.
Hi Sean,
I know it’s important to update a blog regularly although it is hard to get into a routine, like you say.
As I am reading your series of posts though, I’m learning how to create better habits and, how to go about things in a better way. Thanks Sean,
For newbies, I do think daily blog posts are excessive. Especially when you don’t yet have a real following. My tip is to choose a frequency and stick to it. If it’s twice a week, then commit to that and do that. Just make the commitment and give your readers something they can learn to expect from you. Then, build it on from there.
Great advice for me especially as I was thinking how was I going to manage two posts every day as well as the huge workload I already have.
I am time managed to the hilt. Two a week will be a good starter.
Hello Sean,
I understand how blogs work, but have not thought to ask for Blog vistors to jump onto my blog, that sounds like a great way to reach a bigger audience because that way the quest blogger will have her/his audience checking out my blog. Oh I so like that idea, will need to think who I can ask to add a blog post:)
Great tips Thanks Sean.
Cheers
Lisa
Inspired by this blog article – I have just put invites in all my blogs! Now I hope that there is sufficient traffic that will see it and respond
I enjoy blogging a great deal. I think your article is very helpful.
For instance, I had never thought of having someone else write something on my blog. What a great idea. I have many colleagues who are experts in my basic field and I think would gladly contribute a blog for me. I am going to use my blackmail material to get some of them to buckle down and write for me.
Also even though I knew about including articles/blogs from other people as long as giving them credit etc, I have never done it. I think now I will do some searching and let that be another way of regularly adding something to my blog(s). I must admit that I am not as disciplined as I should be with my updating. Maybe by saying this I will do better.
Thanks for all the good information and advice in this blogging area.
Dobbs
When you use syndicated article it is best not to use it too often. Probably the 80/20 rule applies here. 80% unique
Hi Sean,
This is also something I’ve struggled with. It’s like you have a plan to write your posts that week and then life gets in the way. I’m having trouble being consistent with when I post. I’m going to work hard at improving in this area.
I guess it’s all about focus. You’ve given me some great suggestions here so I should be posting regularly in no time.
I am lucky enough to have an expert in my field contributing to one of my blogs. She wants to get her message out but doesn’t want her own blog. It saves me work and provides my blog with some great content.
That is extremely handy Wal! I am going to my blog now to make a note to anyone wanting to contribute.
Yes that is a great idea.
I have a colleague who is contributing to my newsletter and I am looking at getting her to also contribute to my blog down the track.
Congratulations Wal,
that sounds like a proper win-win situation to me. You have more regular updates to your blog, she get’s her message out, and both of you benefit from a much better exposure and ranking of your blog.
Well done!
Hi Sean
I would dearly like to post one article per week on my blog. That way more people may be interested to visit my blog to read what is presented.
I think that visiting my blog more often will keep me more focused and my writing more connected from one week to the next. What do you think?
Hi Sean
This is a great article, once again packed with heaps of information.
I know the importance of updating my blog regularly because if I don’t the search engines will stop visiting and I will also lose my audience.
I would like to know more about how to blog ahead and how WordPress will let me schedule my blog posts for a future date. Now that sounds interesting and time saving.
I also like the idea of writing a series every week, that will keep my visitors interest up if I can make it really compelling. It’s all up to me now.
It’s very easy to schedule your posts Elly. In WordPress, when you are editing your post, up in the publish area you will notice a “publish immediately” reference with an “edit” link beside it. Simple click the edit link and input your desired date and time for the post to be published
You are all invited to post to my blogs! I like the idea in this article re guest contributors as it provides the readers with another perspective or voice. This adds a richness to the content and its quality.
I too struggle to write even weekly at the moment.
The research needed for the travel site takes up plenty of time even though the places I write about are places I have been
Sean, with you being such a busy man I don’t know how you do it.
Rita have you ever thought about getting yourself one of those little hand held dictaphone machines.
You could talk into as you are doing your daily tasks and then type it up later. I think they are quite advanced now so you can get them computer compatible.
Most mobile phones have them included these days, so you wouldn’t even need to invest in a new piece of equipment, just use what you have available already.
Great tip Elly!
oh this is golden! thanks heaps- I am actually printing this article as an example of what to do in blog writing: In reading Lina’s remarks I just had a small stroke- of enlightenment- and realise that not only is Sean offering relevant and helpful content BUT also he’s giving brilliant ex. of using keywords in your article. Better late than never- thanks heaps to Lina and Sean!
I have to admit that I struggle a bit with the notion of writing a blog post daily plus a few articles per week plus being active on social media. How do you guys do that?
I for one know that I will start outsourcing some of these tasks once the first income is flowing, so I can make sure I expand my online business faster and better
In regards to outsourcing – can you start with writing your own posts first and outsource it later or would that mean too much a break in writing style?
The change in writing style is definitely something you will need to consider Renee. If you have long term readers that keep coming back, they will more than likely notice a difference.
Really helpful post, i’ve recently set up a blog and was wondering how many times a week to update, i’m going to start dabbling in the WordPress scheduling to make the updates more consistant. Many thanks.
You’re welcome Phil, consistency is one of the keys of blogging success. If your readers know you post on a regular basis at particular times of the week, you will more than likely find they come back more often